Bali Evaluation 187

Bali

Likes: Stone sculptures and status everywhere combined with old, old tree's and vines, Monkey Temple wild monkeys grooming me, rice fields greenness, McDonald's home delivery, 'snakeskin' fruit, learning how coffee is made, the Ubud market, the drive to Lovina up north, numerous exquisite doorways.

Dislikes: Painful massages, Kuta, never knowing the real price of anything, rubbish on the beaches, RAIN, stupid $25 'airport fee's for a terminal with filthy toilets, $25 visa fees.

Sunrises witnessed: None thankfully, we missed all 9

Places visited: Sanur, Kuta, Lovina, Ubud.

Number of times i wanted to come home: 0. Its too near the end for that now!

Favourite hotel: They were all pretty bland, but Sana's cottages were nice little isolated cottages in the trees with a nice pool. Too expensive to stay more than one night though.

Favourite memory: Wandering around Ubud, visiting several lovely coffee shops, seeing the monkeys at the temple, reading and then having a nice cheap dinner with good company (Xss)

Worst day: Kuta beach visit, lots of well known shops (but no money to spend) then a dirty beach with several hassley people and a dead rat.

Favourite new food or drink: Papas Tuna in a banana leaf. I don't know what was in this slow roasted tuna, but the leaf flavours came through as did lots of other nice tastes. Served with chips is best.

Best/worst smell: Frangipangi joss sticks, everywhere, but nice.

Best/worst noise: There is only one song in Bali. Played on some plucked instrument. At the beginning this is nice, when you finally hear it at the airport leaving, you'd rather hear S Club 7.

Best Norwich City Victory: 2:0 away at Barnsly.

Weirdest country fact: Everyone speaks English fluently. I am beginning to believe that really English is spoken the world over and only THEN did they make up their own languages, just to be different.

New thing learnt: Even if you are tanned you get used to your skin tone and think you are white again. Why does every culture want to have a different skin colour? Is anyone actually happy with their own skin? All the suntan lotions and moisturisers here contain whitening ingredients (much to my dismay as i need some). Makes me wonder if we share any universally heralded physical ideals? The only one i can think of is that everywhere thinks long hair on girls is pretty?

Country Score: 187

Can you get even bruises?

Bali has been great. I've loved it all. If anyone wants to start out travelling the easy way, Bali is the place to go. Everyone speaks English so the possibilities to understand and ask questions are limitless!!

We started with a break near the beach in Sanur, then went up to the north of the Island to a black beach, which sounds different and fun, but actually is very hard to break the association of black/gray sand with dirty, unhygienic ugliness. We then landed in Ubud the land of loveliness where we could wander around for hours in the rice paddies and vine covered trees. There is carved ornateness everywhere and every gate frames a dazzling entry to another world. Seriously, its awesome, but have not got my camera here to upload photos. Sorry.

Basically everywhere you look in Bali there is lay upon layer of fascinating things and i cant believe that i didn't trip over more than usual as i was always starting elsewhere. In order to embrace the place as much as possible, like usual, we tried the food and engaged in local activities. Well really this meant sometimes i forwent my chips for a 'noodles with left overs stirred' in dish and we went for a massage.

Now as most of you will know, i hate strangers touching my body so i opted for a leg massage instead. It was fun, but not in the way i expected. Are massages always painful? I basically spent the whole time with my hands interwoven behind my head as if they were by my sides my fist were clenched and then i thought she might notice. The phrase, 'right, that's enough' was on the tip of my tongue as my stomach muscles tried to pull me up to a sitting position on the bed. But i persevered and tried to be positive, that at least if she was bruising me, she was doing it very evenly and it might just look like dirt. I also realised how ridiculous this was as i lay there wondering why i wouldn't just ask her to be a bit lighter with her hands. I thought about this the whole of the half hour, and couldn't come up with one reason why i shouldn't ask her.

I've loved Bali, the culture, the friendly people and the sights, but we never found a wonderful beach setting, so (sad as it is to have this silly requirement for a great 5 star pole position) i cant decide if i would come back or not. Bali does not seem to make a holiday by itself.

Dear Aussies.....

Dear Stan, Junior & Mel (and any other Australian),

I write to you seeking cultural clarification on a confusing issue. Having recently encountered some (well, actually thousands of) people of Australian breeding in a small town called Kuta in Bali, it has left me utterly confounded. Firstly, may i say thank you for teaching the Balinese how to speak English so well, we have not met someone yet who cannot speak to us in our language which is convenient to say the least. However, i wonder why they seem to have this tic where they attach the word mate to everything? 'How are you mate?' , 'Need a taxi mate?', 'This sarong is very nice, comes in 3 colours and seven sizes mate'. I assume this is an Indonesian word that has yet to be translated.

But i am really perplexed as to why Australians come to Kuta? Is it for a love of the uniform that they seem to have to wear here, the Bintong beer logo seems crass for a child of 5 but apparently no-one is exempt from wearing it? Or is it because there it is compulsory to walk around with a full beer and cigarette firmly grasped in one hand, whilst the other is used for balance (usually along walls)? Or is it for the beach? Upon which i saw a DEAD rat on, not even an alive one, a dead one, even he didn't like Kuta beach. Or is it the rubbish and the small waves? From what I've heard Australia has all these things: beaches, the sun and the surf (and from what it looks like on Home and Away yours are so much better) so why come here for less of the same?? Dont tell me Home and Away lies!

I know that Australians are lovely people, i often (compulsively) watch the documentary that is Neighbours about real Australians lives. I know they can be somewhat hectic what with multiple marriages, near death experiences, illigitimate children arriving and not to mention that most Australians lose their memories at least once in their life. But really you are lovely people, who just want to help each other and can often be caught standing around a street party singing Christmas songs together.

So why go to Kuta? Please explain.

Confused English woman

LE